Meghan Markle joked she was ‘a bit rusty’ on the set of her new film but had ‘obviously rehearsed’ her lines in advance

Meghan Markle joked that she was a bit ‘rusty’ on the set of her new film last week but came prepared because she realises it’s ‘a big deal’ to be back on screen, insiders have claimed.

The Duchess of Sussex, 44, is returning to acting after an eight-year hiatus to star in the Amazon MGM Studios film Close Personal Friends, and was spotted filming in Pasadena, California, last Wednesday.

Meghan was ‘genuinely excited’ to make her return, sources have now told PEOPLE, adding that it was a ‘big deal’ for her to be back.

Wearing a casual white and navy pinstripe shirt, elegant white linen maxi skirt and her £5,850 Cartier bracelets, Meghan was seen waving excitedly to a member of the crew.

The insider added: ‘She introduced herself as “Meghan”. Everything about her was very sweet and calm.

‘She genuinely seemed excited to be on set. She was joking that she felt a bit rusty, but it was obvious that she had rehearsed and that it was a big deal for her to be back. And she was great.’

‘She had a very warm energy, too. She was super pleasant to be around,’ the source added.

Meghan starred as Rachel Zane in Suits from 2011 to 2018 before quitting Hollywood when she married Prince Harry to briefly become a working royal.

Meghan Markle joked that she’s a bit ‘rusty’ as she made her return to acting last week. Pictured filming in Pasadena, California, last Wednesday

But she is now stepping back in front of the film camera and is set to appear alongside Lily Collins, Brie Larson and Jack Quaid – son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid – as well as British heartthrob Henry Golding.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for Meghan for comment.  

Last week, she was seen filming a scene by a swimming pool after climbing out of a luxurious Range Rover. 

A source close to the production previously insisted that Meghan, who was seen partying alongside the Kardashians at Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday party this weekend, has been ‘swamped with offers’ for acting work ‘but this one felt right’.

The gig is with the full support of her husband because he knows acting ‘brings her joy’, the insider said.

Close Personal Friends follows two couples – one famous and the other, not.

Little is known yet about the plot, or Meghan’s role, but the couples at the heart of the script meet in Santa Barbara and ‘fast become friends’.

The Hollywood production she is filming couldn’t be more different to the last one she starred in, a low budget TV movie called Dater’s Handbook for the Hallmark Channel in 2016.

An LA insider told the Mail that executives in Hollywood have been urging her to return to acting given her success in Suits, and the failure of some of her projects since she left the business and married Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex starred as Rachel Zane in US legal drama Suits for seven seasons between 2011 and 2018

‘She’s finally seen sense’, the insider said.

Another Hollywood source told the Daily Mail that this is part of yet another Sussex relaunch.

‘Meghan’s in fully fledged celebrity mode, that’s all she can cash in on now, being a star with a lifestyle to match,’ they said.

‘Her playing herself in a film cameo is just stunt casting – just like when like Kate Moss played herself in Ab Fab movie’.

A source told The Sun: ‘This is a massive moment for Meghan and signifies a return to doing what she truly loves.

‘She has been swamped with offers but this one felt right.

‘Prince Harry is, of course, really supportive and quite simply wants Meghan to do whatever brings her joy.’

Meghan is best known for her role in the hit US TV-drama Suits, but also had Hollywood roles in Horrible Bosses, Get Him To The Greek and Remember Me.

Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in 2020 and moved to the US. 

The Duchess of Sussex previously claimed she struggled to get acting roles in her early career. 

She told how she would get plenty of auditions but was regularly rejected by directors – which was a ‘lot to chip away at your self-esteem’.

Meghan and Harry were seen partying amongst A-listers at the weekend, seen with Serena Williams at the Baby2Baby Gala before attending Kris Jenner’s 70th birthday

Meghan was once a ‘briefcase girl’ – one of the models who hold the suitcases full of cash – on the US version of Deal Or No Deal.

Experts said the former royal may be having some trouble when it comes to finding ‘where she really fits’ as she attempts to juggle her As Ever lifestyle venture, public speaking engagements and her aspirations in the fashion world.

The Duchess also admitted in a recent podcast that she had ‘sometimes’ missed acting. 

In 2015 she wrote in a blog post about how her role in Suits had changed her life forever, gushing: ‘I remember that day like it was yesterday. My cheeks still hurt from how hard I smiled.’

But as her relationship with Harry took off and went public towards the end of 2016, her role in Suits became precarious.

Acclaimed biographer Tom Bower wrote in his 2022 book Revenge: Meghan, Harry And The War Between The Windsors that writer Aaron Korsh planned to write her out at the end of the 2017 season.

Considering her emerging new life as a member of the Royal Family and the need to refresh the series, he planned on having Meghan’s character Rachel leave New York.

Bower, who claimed he had conversations with 80 individuals who were personally acquainted with Harry and Meghan, wrote that after her agent Nick Collins heard the news he was ‘not encouraging’.

He wrote: ‘No film producer was offering her any major roles and no serious Hollywood director spoke about featuring Meghan in his movie or TV series. Just as she feared, her acting career was stymied. Her income after 2017 would plummet.’